“Shame on Carleton!” chanted members and supporters of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) towards the end of an already heated Ottawa-Centre all-candidates debate.
Protesting the attendance of Peoples Party of Canada (PPC) candidate Merylee Sevilla, with a large banner claiming the PPC “has Nazis on payroll,” the GSA repeated claims from an open letter to the organizers released ahead of the Oct. 2 debate at the University Centre Atrium.
Here’s the @gsacarleton and other students joining in to protest the “Nazi on a payroll” PPC candidate @MeryleeOTTCtr, as the crowd begins to leave after tonight’s debate.
“Shame on Carleton!” #cdnpoli #ottnews #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/bQFQxI27s8
— Temur Durrani (@temurdur) October 2, 2019
The PPC perpetuates racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic, and transphobic sentiments by sharing “former and current ties to white supremacist groups,” says the GSA-signed letter.
“Hate speech is not free speech,” reads the letter, criticizing the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG), and university administration for inviting Sevilla to participate.
Sevilla poses “a threat to the most marginalized peoples on our campus. . . White supremacy in any of its forms are not welcome on our campus, ever,” says the GSA.
Including Sevilla, the debate hosted candidates from all five major parties—Angela Keller-Herzog (Green), Carol Clemenhagen (Conservative), Emilie Taman (NDP), and Liberal incumbent MP Catherine McKenna.
All five candidates were provided equal speaking rights at the debate.
Sevilla did not mention anything transphobic, racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant or “white supremacist,” as the GSA predicted she would at the debate.
However, the GSA said they believe “people who hold multiple identities can still perpetuate white supremacy,” by way of connection.
The PPC has documented connections with what the GSA alleges are white supremacist groups, such as the National Alliance and the Yellow Vesters.
“Racism isn’t just offensive rhetoric, it is expressed through stricter immigration policies, and through the devaluation of culture and values,” says the GSA.
CASG vice-president (operations) Matt Gagne says the GSA’s calls to “de-platform one particular party is not the neutral behaviour a student association should be taking.”
“With all due respect to the GSA, there’s students here at Carleton who are registered under the PPC banner and we have to cater to that,” he said. “At the end of the day, we need to find a balance.”
“And whether GSA continues their hefty claim of calling us white supremacists or not, we can’t be judging them and making them feel left out—that’s not our job.”
Feature image by Tim Austen.
